I lay on my bed in late afternoon, watching a patch of light move across the floor, my throat tight, my body still. This is the saddest part of any day, when too much time has passed to create happiness while it is still light out. It’s too late. The daylight has been squandered on my immobility. The patch of light falls still; it begins to fade. It will be better when it is gone. This is only one day, I remind myself, and it is very nearly over.
The voices quiet. The border between day and evening fades. No one calls me to dinner. The sun is gone and my room is dark but I do not move to turn on a light. I let the darkness move over me and I am still.
A crash downstairs jolts me. I spring up into a sitting position. The voices begin again downstairs. They grow. They shout. A door slams. The voices are outside now.
I move to the window. I cannot see them, only the side yard and Finny’s dark window. In the weeks since The War, the line drawn between my friends and Finny’s has become a wall of ice. No longer are there civil exchanges between them and us in class or when our paths cross in the halls or restrooms. We all do our best to pretend the others do not exist. Finny and I have not spoken since the day I stole the table back from him.
I lean my forehead against the cool glass and close my eyes. My parents’ voices are clearer now, even though they speak more quietly.
I listen to the purr of my father’s car driving away. My mother begins to cry. The gravel crunches under her feet as she walks inside. I flick the light switch on. My body reacts to the light; I am suddenly alert. I pick up my book and lie down on my bed. The house is quiet again.
It isn’t long before the knock I am expecting comes. The door creaks open and my mother’s head peeks in. She smiles at me as if her eyes aren’t puffy.
“I’m going over to Angelina’s, sweetie,” she says. I want to throw my book at her. I want to ask her what’s the point of pretending everything is fine, which would hurt her far worse than the book.
“Okay,” I say. She disappears.
***
I wake up hungry. It is still dark, still quiet. I shuffle barefoot downstairs. Everything in the old house creaks under my touch. I heat up the leftover mashed potatoes and watch them spin in the microwave. I’ll enjoy the meal more this time. It was an awkward Thanksgiving.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas for as long as I can remember, my father has sat at the head of the table, The Mothers on either side of him, and Finny and I next to them, across from each other. Yesterday Finny sat in his mother’s spot instead of across from me. The Mothers glanced at each other but didn’t say anything in front of us. They’ve accepted that we aren’t best friends anymore, but I could see they won’t accept us not being friendly. All day, we never crossed the line between us. We only spoke when one of the parents spoke to us first, and there was nothing they could say that would make us speak to each other.
The Mothers probably would have said something eventually, but whatever had erupted between my parents today had been brewing yesterday, and it was probably all too much for them too. I felt bad for Aunt Angelina and Finny; I wondered if they would have been happier in their own home, where there are no divisions, no unspoken contention.
I take the plate out of the microwave and reach into the fridge. I take chunks of the cold white meat into my hands and drop them onto my plate. As I stand upright again, I look out the window. The kitchen light is on in the house next door. I imagine Aunt Angelina and my mother sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, mugs of tea between them.
The wind shakes the leaves and I have a sudden urge to go outside. The gray world out there looks inviting, velvety and cool. I glance at the clock. It’s just after one.
There is no one at home to care what I do tonight.
I take my plate in hand and head out to the front porch. On the other side of the threshold, the air is cold and damp on my skin; the floorboards chill the soles of my feet as I sit down on the steps. I realize that I have forgotten a fork, and then decide not to care. I grab hot chunks of the potatoes and lick my fingers.
It’s a silly rebellion, eating mashed potatoes with my bare hands on the front porch after midnight, but it’s what I have at the moment.
I eat the cool turkey more slowly, picking through the pieces carefully, taking small bites from my fingers.
When I am finished, I lay the plate to the side and lean against the porch railing on the right. The wind is blowing through the trees again. I shiver but I do not move. I want to see how long I can stand it out here. Perhaps I’ll stay all night. I shiver again and close my eyes. It is cold. I hear the sound of a car and right away my eyes are open again.
A blue car has pulled up in the street. The door opens and the dome light comes on. I recognize the male shapes inside the car, one in particular. Finny stumbles out of the car. He laughs and says something to his friends. They shout something back and he puts his fingers to his lips. He waves and they drive away too quickly.
I watch him walk up the lawn. I cannot see his face, only the shape of him against the night. There is something odd about his gait tonight; his steps are too small, and he leans too far forward. He’s feeling his jeans pockets as he walks. The light from the kitchen window makes him clearer as he comes closer. He stops a few feet from his porch and frowns. I lean forward to try to see him better, to see what is making him frown, and the steps creak beneath me. Finny looks up and our eyes lock. My breath catches in my throat.
“Hey,” he says after a moment.
“Hey,” I say. He stares at me, still frowning.
“No tiara,” he says.
“What?”
“You’re not wearing a tiara,” he says. He sounds odd, his words slurred together as if he were very tired.
“I’m in my pajamas,” I say.
“Oh.” He sways slightly.
“Are you drunk?” I ask. I’ve never seen someone drunk before.
“Yeah, kinda,” he says.
“You probably shouldn’t go inside then,” I say. He still has not looked away from me. Sweet, shy Finny: drunk. Even though I’d heard about it, even though I’m seeing it, it’s still hard for me to believe.
“Why?” he says.
“The Mothers are in your kitchen.”
“Oh.” He sways again. “Can I come sit for a while?” he says.
“Sure,” I say. He stumbles over to me and sits down heavily on the steps. He lets out a long breath and leans his head back against the railing. Mrs. Adams, our health teacher, made it sound like alcohol turned you into a different person. Finny is the same as always though, just a little unsteady, a little friendlier toward me than yesterday.
“I can’t find my keys,” he says.